Done Quarantining

[00101]

I'm done trying to quarantine fish. I've only done tank transfer with a round of prazi on the second transfer, yet I've lot 5/6 fish I've purchased and tried this with. All within 1-3 transfers (2-8 days). All have eaten at least something in the time I had them, and combined with their short stays and full bodies leads me to doubt starvation. Either I have the worst luck of getting fish destined to die no matter what, or I'm doing something severely wrong. At this point the next fish I get is going straight in, I'm sick of ****ing away money.

Has anyone else had abysmal success with quarantining procedures?

 

[Mishri]

I've had no deaths during QT procedure, but I don't do TTM.. some people say they do fine with TTM, others say they lose them..

have you had ammonia alert badges or tested ammonia regularly? lack of bio-filter during TTM if in a heavily stocked tank can quickly kill things. I also don't think TTM tanks are the ideal environment for a new/stressed out fish. I'd wait for awhile to do it if I were to do it at all.

 

[00101]

I put in a double dose of prime on each transfer to deal with the ammonia. And with only one small fish at a time, I doubt its ammonia. And I've tested with a couple of the previous fish and was not able to get a reading.

As for having a set up tank with rock and such, its so material and time intensive to have to scrap it after each fish and re-establish it for the next one that its very hard to justify.

 

[ThRoewer]

TTM is only good against ich. It doesn't do anything against any of the other problems new fish may come with.
But ich is usually the least concerning parasite. The fast killers like velvet, brook, Uronema,... are the ones to be concerned about.
For all those reasons I would never start a new fish right away on TTM.

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[00101]

TTM is only good against ich. It doesn't do anything against any of the other problems new fish may come with.
But ich is usually the least concerning parasite. The fast killers like velvet, brook, Uronema,... are the ones to be concerned about.
For all those reasons I would never start a new fish right away on TTM.

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Well at least two of those are very hard to see before its too late, so what is the best practice, just throw it into copper immediately?


I do tank transfer and prazi since they're both not too hard on the fish and both effectively treat for common problems. Copper as I understand is pretty harsh on the fish as well.

 

[Mishri]

don't treat for what you can't see.. QT for about a month... keep medication on hand to treat a variety of things so you can immediately dose. Chloroquine Phosphate with velvet is very quick to act, within 24hrs it can clear the fish. too many things don't work with copper I wouldn't use it. Prazipro most feel is very safe.. but I'd still wait before adding any medications.. observe then do preventative prazi/ttm/cp.. how long to observe before doing preventative mediation depends on the person I guess... some will wait a week, others a month.

 

[00101]

don't treat for what you can't see.. QT for about a month... keep medication on hand to treat a variety of things so you can immediately dose. Chloroquine Phosphate with velvet is very quick to act, within 24hrs it can clear the fish. too many things don't work with copper I wouldn't use it. Prazipro most feel is very safe.. but I'd still wait before adding any medications.. observe then do preventative prazi/ttm/cp.. how long to observe before doing preventative mediation depends on the person I guess... some will wait a week, others a month.

As far as I can tell it doesn't seem like anything I did was the cause of death of these fish. Unless a couple 3 day transfers is enough to stress 5/6 fish to death. Which would mean ttm is fundamentally flawed, but that's clearly not the case. Am I just THAT unlucky with getting sick specimens?

I'm just very frustrated with this, so sorry if I come off as petulant.

 

[Mishri]

have you been keeping saltwater fish for long? have you had good luck in the past with other methods? are you sure you are reading your refactometer and is it calibrated correctly and are matching temp and ph between transfers? do you have enough surface agitation(or airstone/bubbler as most use)

I've only done TTM once and it did seem stressful to the fish, I had them for over a year before doing it. but they are clowns and thus fairly tough.. so... I'm not sure how some people are doing it with more delicate species...

 

[00101]

Been keeping saltwater fish for almost 4 years, but I've just gotten more serious about quarantine in the last half year or so.

I'm reading the refractometer correctly, granted it hasn't been calibrated in a while, but my display tank reads what it should and all my coral and fish there are fine.

I don't bother testing pH on the transfer water, just salinity since its fresh water from the same bucket of salt with almost nothing else added. pH of display tank is fine as well.

I have an air pump that bubbles the holding tanks. No other water flow is provided.

I've had a few McCoskers that have not made it through this process, I was under the impression that these were not particularly delicate.

 

[Tanthaitrung]

Chloroquine Phosphate with velvet is very quick to act, within 24hrs it can clear the fish

Hi Mishri

What is the brand name of Chloroquine Phosphate? Or must by from medicine store? If so, how to use?

Is there any other good brands to treat velvet?

Thanks in advance

 

[hairalgae85]

I too have lost lots of fish in the "bullet proof" ttm method. Usually around day 8 or 9, ill lose one. I use 15 gallon tanks, an airstone and a mini reactor type pump, the 100 gph variety, mix up saltwater for at least 36 hours prior, 50 watt heaters etc. Also use prime.

Last attempt, i lost a nice 110 dollar magnificient fox, a sub adult emperor, and australian tusk. Yea, never using ttm again.

They say moving from tank to store, to wholesaler, etc, is stressful, well , ttm to me represents all of that

 

[ThRoewer]

All I do with new fish is a Formalin bath before they go into the quarantine tank. And then I wait and see.

There are some fish species that simply never get ich, even if the rest of the QT is on death's doorstep. The ones I'm quite sure about are the Banggai cardinals and at least two Stonogobiops species (nematodes & yasha). I've had lots of these in QT with fish that were white from ich, yet none of these ever got a single spot or showed the slightest sign of discomfort.

My quarantine is primarily to make sure nothing really bad (brook, velvet, Uronema, flukes...) makes it into my DT. Ich is already in there, so it is very low on my list of concerns.

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[00101]

So in the sequence just quarantining with no treatment whatsoever, how does one deal with ammonia build up over the 3-4 weeks? Just keep dumping in prime and water changes? I've always given the fish a couple PVC tees to hide out in, but in a more permanent set up is it better to include other baubles to help lessen stress for the fish?

 

[ThRoewer]

I toss a handful of Cheatomorpha or other algae from my refugium in. That and feeding lightly in the beginning usually does the trick.

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[Mishri]

Been keeping saltwater fish for almost 4 years, but I've just gotten more serious about quarantine in the last half year or so.

I'm reading the refractometer correctly, granted it hasn't been calibrated in a while, but my display tank reads what it should and all my coral and fish there are fine.

I don't bother testing pH on the transfer water, just salinity since its fresh water from the same bucket of salt with almost nothing else added. pH of display tank is fine as well.

I have an air pump that bubbles the holding tanks. No other water flow is provided.

I've had a few McCoskers that have not made it through this process, I was under the impression that these were not particularly delicate.

co2 reduces PH.. so you could be transferring your fish from a lower PH to a higher PH introducing additional stress.. just depends on conditions.. worth testing at least a few times.


refactometer, calibration....as long as you are matching salinity then you are probably fine, even if it's higher/lower than you think... but, it's cheap and easy to test.. you should look into it... i found mine was off. only issue that might come up is if you find your refactometer doesn't match the test solution after calibration (varies)...

as far as the wrasse go.. meh.. not delicate exactly, but not hardy either, as compared to damsels or clownfish...

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I've had a few McCoskers that have not made it through this process, I was under the impression that these were not particularly delicate.

For what it's worth, I've been keeping saltwater aquariums for 14 years and I've tried this fish several times and haven't been successful...

I've done TTM a lot and I haven't found it overly stressful on the fish. I set the tank up the night before and transfer in the morning before the lights come on, while the fish is still sleeping. I have a heater, air pump, and small powerhead in each tank, as well as some PVC and plastic plants.




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[Naraku]

My bet is ammonia. I've lost a lot of fish to ammonia during ttm.
Ammonia usually build up on the second day and fish die before I get to the next transfer.

I'm changing to transfers every day or every other day.
as long as its less than 72 hours between, you are good.

I'm done trying to quarantine fish. I've only done tank transfer with a round of prazi on the second transfer, yet I've lot 5/6 fish I've purchased and tried this with. All within 1-3 transfers (2-8 days). All have eaten at least something in the time I had them, and combined with their short stays and full bodies leads me to doubt starvation. Either I have the worst luck of getting fish destined to die no matter what, or I'm doing something severely wrong. At this point the next fish I get is going straight in, I'm sick of ****ing away money.

Has anyone else had abysmal success with quarantining procedures?

 

[Code4]

I use Amquel Plus by Kordon to treat any ammonia build up. So I do not worry about feeding heavily. Day 2 & 3 or TTM I dose with the Amquel. Always. After they are done with TTM I treat daily in the quarantine tank for ammonia and nitrite. The tank will eventually cycle and not need any more dosing. I use the ammonia alert badge also. Watch the PH levels also. Some fish are really sensitive to a drop in PH.

Good luck,
Shelley

 

[lg2725]

I have been doing a 3 gallon water change after 24 hours (just after I feed them) during TTM to keep ammonia from spiking in the 10 gallon tanks. Also keep Prime on hand just in case too.

 

[00101]

I calibrated my refractometer, and it was reading about 1 ppt high. Considering that the quarantine salinity was matched to the bag salinity and I was well within safe margins, I doubt seriously this was an issue.

Which diseases can survive being dried for a while? I'm loosely considering if one of my previous specimens had a disease that was able to survive being dry that I may have been infecting new specimens as they came in with the equipment. I have since bleached each piece that has been used just in case.

My other two thoughts are possible ammonia build up, but with the short times and added prime I am somewhat doubtful; and random/unavoidable death.

Does anyone see other potential areas that may be my problem?